I Will Never Get a Star on Mrs. Benson's Blackboard (Jennifer K. Mann)

I should have read this one ahead of time. It made me sad. I didn't like that this kid is working so hard for public recognition and feels like she will just measure up. In the end, she does get recognized for her talents. I wondered what my students thought about it. It has potential for a great discussion.

Goodreads summary:

Rose’s teacher gives stars for spelling and neatness and giving the right answer, but Rose can’t manage to do any of those things right. Will she ever get a star from Mrs. Benson?

Rose is a distracted and creative soul. She does her best at school, but sometimes her mind wanders, and she answers the wrong question. Her reading voice is quiet, not strong and loud. And her desk—well, keeping her desk neat is a challenge. When it’s time to make thank-you cards for a class visitor, Rose’s art supplies turn her workspace—and her—into a colorful mess. But her artistic skills shine through in the gorgeous oversize card she creates. Could she possibly get a star after all? A cheerful and empowering picture book for the child whose talents lie in unconventional areas, and those still searching for their strengths.

The Legend of Rock Paper Scissors (Adam Rex)

This is hilarious. Great illustrations. Fabulous word play. We got a lot of good laughs out of this book. We especially loved that our AP came in to read it to us! Afterwards, spontaneous games of rock paper scissors broke out all over the place.

Goodreads summary:

From New York Times bestselling creators Drew Daywalt, author of The Day the Crayons Quit and The Day the Crayons Came Home, and Adam Rex, author-illustrator of Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich, comes a laugh-out-loud hilarious picture book about the epic tale of the classic game Rock, Paper, Scissors.

You’ve played the game. Now read the legend of how it all began . . .

Long ago, in an ancient and distant realm called the Kingdom of Backyard, there lived a warrior named ROCK.

Meanwhile in the Empire of Mom’s Home Office, a second great warrior sought the glory of battle. And his name was PAPER.

At the same time, in the Kitchen Realm, in the tiny village of Junk Drawer, lived a third warrior. They called her SCISSORS.

These three were the strongest, smartest, and fastest in all the land. Time and again they beat the most fearsome opponents they could find: an apricot, a computer printer—even frozen, breaded, dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets! But when the warriors finally meet each other, the most epic round of battles begins . . . and never ends. That is why, to this day, children around the world honor these worthy adversaries by playing ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS! 

Oddrey (Dale Whamond)

So cute! My kids said, "I get it! I know why she's called Oddrey."

Reminded me of Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon.

Be proud of who you are! There's no one like you.

Goodreads summary:

From Blue Spruce Award–winning author-illustrator Dave Whamond comes the story of Oddrey, a young girl who is a little bit different from everybody else. Every aspect of Oddrey’s world is a study in playful curiosity. Her adventures and flights of fancy, however, are often a source of some teasing at the hands of her classmates. Her technicolor snow sculpture has the rest of the playground gaping in disbelief. Her drawing of blue apples is met with a stern look from her teacher. But Oddrey, never one to let anything get her down, faces all of these discouragements with optimism and offhanded grace.
So when her class production of The Wizard of Oz is cast and Oddrey is given the rather spiritless role of a tree, she decides to make the best of the situation and vows to be the most unique tree ever. Sadly, her teacher has other ideas, and Oddrey dons an uninspired costume and sways in the back row. But when her classmates start forgetting their lines, knocking down props, and suffering from stage fright, Oddrey steps in to save the show — not by stealing it, but by helping her classmates rise to the occasion. 

Read Anything Good Lately? (Susan Allen and Jane Lindaman)

This would be a great introduction to a lesson on genres or the importance of reading. 26 different ideas for kinds of books and where to read them. Great illustrations!

Goodreads summary:

Readers, have you ever thought about the many kinds of books or periodicals or brochures or other things that you read? This charming picture book takes you on an alphabetical stroll through a surprising variety of forms that you reading can take--and suggests some very nice places where you can do that reading.

IMWAYR

I'm not doing a good job of carving out time for reading lately. These are two books I'm still working on:

This is our Grade 3 book club book. It's a quick read. I just need to get the time to focus on it.

This is my book club book this month.

The Alphabet Thief (Bill Richardson)

Clever! Great for phonemic awareness. It is full of all sorts of puns too, which are great for discussion in class.

It was interesting to see who could quickly figure out what the new words would be when the letters were taken by the alphabet thief.

And best of all, it's a Canadian author! Thanks for helping me get to my goal of 150 Canadian books this year :)


Goodreads summary:

The alphabet thief stole all of the B’s, and all of the bowls became owls…

When night falls, along comes a peculiar thief who steals each letter of the alphabet, creating a topsy-turvy world as she goes. It seems that no one can stop her, until the Z’s finally send her to sleep so that all the other letters can scamper back to where they belong.

Bill Richardson’s zany rhymes and Roxanna Bikadoroff’s hilarious illustrations will delight young readers with the silly fun they can have with language — and may even inspire budding young writers and artists to create their own word games.

The Princess and the Pizza

This story is quite funny. I like the independence the princess shows. My students loved the twists on the Princess and the Pea (the princess rolls her eyes at the fact that they're using the old pea under the mattress trick to see if she really is a princess). A bunch of princesses show up to compete for the chance to marry the prince. There's the one whose always tripping on her hair, the one who has all these strange little men with her, etc. In the end, she turns down the chance to marry the prince (he was named Drupert....so you can imagine how much personality he had) and opens her own pizza shop instead.

Goodreads summary:

An out of work princess must prepare a feast fit for a prince.